On the other side, Jing Xi gathered all the members of the star pirate crew for an internal meeting.

The Extreme Shadow headquarters was an abandoned office building, eighty stories high. Chi Yao lived on the top three floors, and the remaining space served as functional areas and dormitories for the crew members.

There were over five hundred members in total, but a large portion were out on jobs, leaving only a little over two hundred people here.

When Jing Xi arrived, the conference hall was already packed.

He glanced over; it was a colorful mess. There were people sitting, standing, and lying down. Groups of three to five were chatting loudly, like a vegetable market.

The noise immediately died down when he entered.

Jing Xi told them to sit down.

“Today, we’ll mainly talk about the crew’s management system.”

“Management system?”

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what he meant.

Jing Xi said seriously, “The current management style is hindering the crew’s development. I’ve decided to implement military-style management starting today.”

Mili-military-style management?!

Everyone thought they had misheard.

Are we playing this big?

Li Yuan asked tentatively, “Boss, is military-style management any different from what we have now?”

Jing Xi: “I will announce the detailed rules.”

Li Yuan: “…”

Detailed rules?

Does that mean there’s no room for discussion?

The discussion in the conference hall was intense.

Fang Liang stood diagonally behind Jing Xi, very surprised by this decision.

There had been no wind of this before. Could it be another spur-of-the-moment decision?

Very characteristic of the boss.

“Fang Liang, what are the closest second-level mineral stars to here?”

Jing Xi’s voice interrupted Fang Liang’s thoughts.

He thought seriously for a moment: “X30, X51, X803.”

X30?

Jing Xi recalled the list of candidate training grounds announced during last year’s recruitment season, which included Aquarius X30.

Planets that could be included in the military’s candidate training grounds wouldn’t have overly harsh environments.

The new recruit training was approaching, but those people would only choose first-level mineral stars.

Thinking of this, Jing Xi said, “We’ll spend the next few days rectifying the crew’s atmosphere. Three days from now, I’ll select half the members to go with me to X30 for intensive training.”

Fang Liang was stunned, “Intensive training?”

---

At night, Jing Xi opened Chi Yao’s special terminal and searched for information.

The terminal had pitifully little stored in it, only a few folders.

He opened them one by one. They were all unimportant things. The last folder, named “X,” was password-protected and couldn’t be opened.

He then switched to the photo album.

He hesitated for a moment before clicking on it.

There were very few saved videos and photos. A quick glance showed they were almost all pictures of dogs.

Jing Xi let out a small sigh of relief.

With Chi Yao’s personality, he was afraid he’d see a screen full of lewd photos that would burn his eyes.

Scrolling to the back, there were a few pictures of a baby crawling on the floor.

The baby’s face was dirty, with drool hanging from the corner of his mouth. It should be Tie Xiong.

Scrolling to the very end, Jing Xi frowned when he saw a photo.

The person in the photo was actually him.

Judging from the angle, it was a candid shot.

He clicked to enlarge it. There were two lines of notes below the photo.

[Only the face is worth looking at.]

[For eye-washing purposes only.]

Jing Xi: “…”

---

In the fifteenth-floor restaurant, Li Yuan and the others were having a late-night snack.

“Whatever the boss says, goes. If he says we’re going for intensive training, then we’ll go.” Li Yuan gnawed on a roasted lamb leg and drank large gulps of alcohol. “How could he possibly harm us?”

“He said he’ll release detailed rules. It sounds like there will be a lot of regulations,” Chen Sheng said with a worried face as he ate his skewers. “I hope he doesn’t ban late-night snacks too.”

Li Yuan looked at Fang Liang: “Brother Liang, has the boss revealed anything to you?”

Fang Liang was eating cold noodles. Compared to the other two, his table manners were much more refined.

“No, it should just be a rectification. Maybe the crew has been too lax recently.”

---

The next morning, everyone gathered around the electronic bulletin board, completely silent.

The first rule of rectifying the atmosphere: dye hair back to black, shave it into a buzz cut.

“Long hair must show the ears?”

“I just spent tens of thousands of star coins on my rainbow hair!”

“Ahhh—my head is pointy, a buzz cut will be super ugly!”

“White hair is my true self!”

Fang Liang dug out a cart of hair dye from the warehouse overnight and sent it to the twentieth floor.

This was something a certain team had looted during a mission.

All members whose hair color or length did not meet the standard were called to the large open space on the twentieth floor.

Looking at the neat rows of dyeing and haircutting stations, they shivered.

Why did this setup look like they were about to be tortured?

Li Yuan held a hair clipper, slapping the table with a loud thud.

“What are you standing around for? Come to me for a haircut!”

Crowd: “…”

Be clear, are you shaving hair or heads?

Li Yuan pulled a person over. Like shearing a sheep, he finished one head in three seconds.

After shaving, he patted the head like a winter melon and said confidently, “My skills are really good.”

The member who got his head shaved, touched his head in a daze, and let out a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, his head was still there.

By noon, everyone’s hair transformation was complete.

Jing Xi swept his gaze over them and nodded in satisfaction.

Much more pleasing to the eye.

Chen Sheng held a small mirror, admiring his new hairstyle, on the verge of tears: “Isn’t this just a living, breathing convict?”

Jing Xi beckoned for Fang Liang to come over.

“Go order a batch of uniforms, according to combat uniform specifications.”

Fang Liang: “We should have some in the warehouse. Are we going to have a unified dress code from now on?”

Jing Xi: “Mhm.”

Fang Liang: “…”

My little leather jacket, sob sob sob—

When the afternoon notice came out, the star pirate crew was once again filled with cries.

---

Chi Yao was catching up on sleep in his office. When he woke up, it was already dark outside.

He walked out of the office and leaned against the well-ventilated corridor to clear his head.

Ever since switching to this body, his head would throb with pain from time to time.

Probably a side effect of the magnetic storm.

“Major General Jing.”

A well-behaved baritone voice came from behind him. He turned his head to look.

Before him was a delicate-looking Omega, wearing a blue-based military uniform, probably from the military administration department.

“You look very tired.” Meeting his gaze, the Omega shyly handed over the coffee. “I brewed this for you. I put in three milk candies, so it’s not bitter at all.”

Unwanted romantic advances are already at the door.

Chi Yao smilingly took the coffee cup. The rich aroma of coffee wafted out.

So the Major General doesn’t like bitter things.

Chi Yao: “Thank you.”

Seeing that he didn’t drink it, the Omega asked cautiously, “Don’t you like it?”

There was a hint of grievance in his humility.

Chi Yao: “It’s too hot. I have a cat’s tongue.”

Omega: “…”

Completely not expecting this, the Omega was at a loss for a moment, but quickly recovered.

“Then let me add some ice for you.”

As he spoke, he reached out.

Chi Yao avoided his hand and smiled lazily: “How can I let an Omega run back and forth? Wouldn’t that make me seem ungentlemanly?”

Omega: “…”

So are you going to drink it or not?!

Catching the Omega’s eager gaze in his peripheral vision, Chi Yao raised the cup to his lips and took a small sip.

Omega: “How is it? Is it good?”

Chi Yao: “Goo—Ugh!”

Just as he said one word, he hurriedly steadied himself against the wall, almost losing his balance.

The Omega naturally supported his arm and said in a panic, “What’s wrong? Are you too tired from not having a good rest for a long time?”

Chi Yao’s expression was pained, and his entire weight pressed onto the Omega.

The Omega’s eyes flashed, and he supported him as he walked to the other side: “Hold on, I’ll take you to the doctor now.”

Turning the corner of the corridor, the Omega looked left and right. A sharp spike suddenly extended from his sleeve, and he raised his hand to stab Chi Yao’s neck.

But before the spike could reach his neck, he was suddenly slammed against the wall by a huge force.

The Omega was startled. Looking up, Chi Yao didn’t look pained at all.

“Why are you—?”

Chi Yao grabbed his neck, lifting him up bit by bit, but his face looked as if nothing was wrong.

“The smell of the poison is so strong. Are you afraid I won’t discover it?”

He shook the coffee cup in his other hand and said leisurely, “Sending a third-rate assassin like you to deal with me, are you looking down on me?”

The Omega struggled to pry his hand away, his feet kicking desperately off the ground: “Cough cough cough—Let go of me! This is the military headquarters, do you dare to act recklessly?!”

Chi Yao sneered: “You dare to, what do I have to be afraid of?”

“Hel—Ugh!”

Just as the Omega was about to shout, he suddenly heard the sound of bones breaking. His vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Chi Yao released his hand, watching the Omega collapse at his feet, his expression cold.

---

In the high-level office, Chen Bingfeng was watching the surveillance footage on the virtual screen.

When he saw the Omega supporting Jing Xi and leaving the frame, he stroked the bandaged wound on his hand and smiled viciously.

But he wasn’t happy for more than two minutes before Jing Xi reappeared in the frame.

When he walked to the center of the frame, he waved the coffee cup in his right hand at the camera and smiled.

Author’s Note:
Jing Xi: Only my face is worth looking at?
Chi Yao: Now I know you look good everywhere. [Obediently]
Jing Xi: …